Straight to Deportation, Don't Pass 'Go'
Plus: Bodega lawsuit, Ross Douthat escapes, Anthropic book destruction, and more...
Change in how asylum seeker cases are processed: Yesterday, the Trump administration changed the way asylum seeker cases are handled.
The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day's news every morning.
"Trump officials introduced a rule designed to reduce the 1.4 million asylum cases pending in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of Homeland Security agency that processes immigration applications, by nearly a third," reports The Washington Post. "The rule took effect immediately, before the public could weigh in."
Over 400,000 cases will now be taken directly to Justice Department immigration judges, who have been instructed to resolve cases without a hearing if need be. This means asylum seekers could claim asylum, yet be deported without having their case ever heard. The Trump administration says the system is simply so overloaded that something like this must be done.
"For far too long the asylum system has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorization, not legitimate claims of protection," said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow. "America's asylum system exists to protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution and this rule will help ensure that resources are directed to the timely adjudication of those claims instead of to those seeking to use the system as a loophole."
Basically, someone can apply for asylum via two methods: "affirmative asylum"—in which they apply through USCIS and asylum officers interview them to figure out what happens with their case—or "defensive asylum" in which the person is already facing deportation and can make an asylum claim in front of a Justice Department immigration judge. This new rule change speeds up the whole process for affirmative asylum seekers, but critics fear that they're getting less of a chance to make their claim.
The rule change goes into effect immediately, but there is a 60-day public comment period before it's technically finalized.
Scenes from New York: "Without strong evidence that NYC bodegas and groceries stores are colluding to protect double-digit net profit margins, the reasonable assumption is that these businesses are operating with <3% margins after rent, labor, and utilities," writes Derek Thompson about the mayor's grocery store plans. "So, a plan to sell some food with a 30% discount seems like a plan to create very long lines to buy a very small number of subsidized groceries. We'll see how that goes. But I don't think literal bread lines are the image that a socialist mayor wants to cultivate." Crazy that we can't just legalize Walmart!
Meanwhile, "an immigrant-led business group is reportedly preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over complaints stemming from his taxpayer-funded grocery stores, one of his landmark policies," reports the Washington Examiner. "The Multicultural Business Coalition—a nonprofit group formed earlier this year in response to the state-funded grocery stores, representing Asian, African, Caribbean, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Jewish-owned New York businesses—is planning to raise $1 million to combat the new policy, Chairman Frank Garcia told the New York Post. The money is being raised for lobbying and the legal costs associated with the move."
QUICK HITS
- Many of you reached out to me asking where you could follow along for book updates (and get more details). Here you go!!! Thank you for your support. I am so grateful. Even though parenting/risk/New York City/childhood isn't totally my beat in Roundup world, it's a real passion of mine, and I pray I'll be able to make it interesting to everyone, not just parents.
- Congratulations to Ross Douthat for escaping The New York Times! And to Bari Weiss, for a wonderful 60 Minutes hire. The only downside to this is that New York Times readers were probably helped by Douthat's presence. He forced them to admit that devoutly religious conservatives could, in fact, have brains.
- "The Trump administration plans to end a subsidy program that helped hold down premiums for Medicare drug plans, a move that could leave many seniors facing higher rates for their prescription coverage next year," reports The Wall Street Journal. "The move will eliminate a program that is giving insurance companies an estimated $3.6 billion in subsidies this year to blunt increases in premiums for the Medicare prescription plans, known as Part D. The program will end after 2026, according to administration officials." Some 25 million people currently use Part D.
- Meet the electricians servicing the data centers that power A.I.
- "Election Day is still over three months away, but more than one-third of the seats in the House of Representatives have effectively been decided—with no input from voters," writes Eric Boehm for Reason. "The list of those uncontested elections includes some high-profile figures, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D–N.Y.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R–Ohio). They are among dozens of incumbents who are all but guaranteed another two years in office after running unopposed in their primaries and representing districts where a loss in November is nearly unthinkable. That list also includes many districts from so-called swing states. In 12 of the 17 congressional districts in Pennsylvania and 12 out of 28 in Florida, this year's midterm election is over before it even began. When you add it all up, 150 of this year's congressional races featured no meaningful competition, according to a new report from Unite America, a nonprofit advocating for election reforms." For those keeping track at home, this adds up to roughly 84 million Americans whose input doesn't really matter. No wonder our electeds have a hard time acting properly, if they're not held accountable!
- A deep dive into Anthropic reportedly buying books and destroying them:
Anthropic is getting hate for this, but it's ultimately an outcome of the same disconnect between copyright law and technology that's been hobbling the Internet for 25 years.
Digital telecommunications drops the marginal cost of replication and distribution of the information… https://t.co/ULKaI6XhQ8
— John Carter (@martianwyrdlord) July 28, 2026
- Extremely true:
It's a good day to remember why NPR became such target. It went from merely left-wing to being a a dogmatic, censorious agent of one side. Expressing a view that deviated from the dogma was "misinformation." https://t.co/k67GtX7k9s pic.twitter.com/1zAHBecE56
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) July 28, 2026